RF isolated capacitively coupled connector

ABSTRACT

A connector with a capacitively coupled connector interface for interconnection with a female portion is provided with an annular groove, with a sidewall, open to an interface end of the female portion. A male portion is provided with a male outer conductor coupling surface at an interface end, covered by an outer conductor dielectric spacer. A waveguide path between the male outer conductor coupling surface and the female portion, while in the interlocked position, extends from the outer conductor dielectric spacer to an exterior of the interconnection through an S-bend in a radial direction, to improve RF isolation. The male outer conductor coupling surface is dimensioned to seat, spaced apart from the sidewall by the outer conductor dielectric spacer, within the annular groove, when the male portion and the female portion are in an interlocked position.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to electrical cable connectors. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to connectors with a capacitivelycoupled connection interface with improved RF isolation.

2. Description of Related Art

Coaxial cables are commonly utilized in RF communications systems.Coaxial cable connectors may be applied to terminate coaxial cables, forexample, in communication systems requiring a high level of precisionand reliability.

Connector interfaces provide a connect and disconnect functionalitybetween a cable terminated with a connector bearing the desiredconnector interface and a corresponding connector with a matingconnector interface mounted on an apparatus or a further cable. Priorcoaxial connector interfaces typically utilize a retainer provided as athreaded coupling nut which draws the connector interface pair intosecure electro-mechanical engagement as the coupling nut, rotatablyretained upon one connector, is threaded upon the other connector.

Passive Intermodulation Distortion (PIM) is a form of electricalinterference/signal transmission degradation that may occur with lessthan symmetrical interconnections and/or as electro-mechanicalinterconnections shift or degrade over time, for example due tomechanical stress, vibration, thermal cycling, and/or materialdegradation. PIM is an important interconnection quality characteristicas PIM generated by a single low quality interconnection may degrade theelectrical performance of an entire RF system.

Recent developments in RF coaxial connector design have focused uponreducing PIM by improving interconnections between the conductors ofcoaxial cables and the connector body and/or inner contact, for exampleby applying a molecular bond instead of an electro-mechanicalinterconnection, as disclosed in commonly owned US Patent ApplicationPublication 2012/0129391, titled “Connector and Coaxial Cable withMolecular Bond Interconnection”, by Kendrick Van Swearingen and James P.Fleming, published on 24 May 2012 and hereby incorporated by referencein its entirety.

Connection interfaces may be provided with a blind mate characteristicto enable push-on interconnection wherein physical access to theconnector bodies is restricted and/or the interconnected portions arelinked in a manner where precise alignment is not cost effective, suchas between an antenna and a transceiver that are coupled together via aswing arm or the like. To accommodate mis-alignment, a blind mateconnector may be provided with lateral and/or longitudinal spring actionto accommodate a limited degree of insertion mis-alignment. Prior blindmate connector assemblies may include one or more helical coil springs,which may increase the complexity of the resulting assembly and/orrequire additional assembly depth along the longitudinal axis.

Competition in the cable connector market has focused attention onimproving interconnection performance and long term reliability of theinterconnection. Further, reduction of overall costs, includingmaterials, training and installation costs, is a significant factor forcommercial success.

Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a coaxialconnector and method of interconnection that overcomes deficiencies inthe prior art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention,where like reference numbers in the drawing figures refer to the samefeature or element and may not be described in detail for every drawingfigure in which they appear and, together with a general description ofthe invention given above, and the detailed description of theembodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic angled isometric view of an exemplary embodimentof a connector with a capacitively coupled blind mate interconnectioninterface, showing a male portion aligned for coupling with a femaleportion.

FIG. 2 is a schematic partial cut-away side view of the connector ofFIG. 1, demonstrated with the male portion and the female portion in theinterlocked position.

FIG. 3 is a schematic exploded isometric view of the connector of FIG.1, with a blind mate retention assembly.

FIG. 4 is a schematic isometric external view of the connector and blindmate retention assembly of FIG. 3, in the interlocked position.

FIG. 5 is a schematic partial cut-away side view of the connector andblind mate retention assembly of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a schematic isometric view of a float plate of the blind materetention assembly of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a schematic exploded isometric view of an exemplary fourconnector embodiment, with individual female portions and a blind mateassembly.

FIG. 8 is a schematic isometric view of the connector of FIG. 7, alignedfor interconnection.

FIG. 9 is a schematic isometric view of another exemplary four connectorembodiment in the interlocked position, with female portions with amonolithic mounting flange.

FIG. 10 is a schematic isometric view of another exemplary fourconnector embodiment in the interlocked position, with female portionswith a monolithic mounting flange.

FIG. 11 is a schematic isometric view of another exemplary fourconnector embodiment in the interlocked position, with female portionswith a monolithic mounting flange.

FIG. 12 is a schematic partial cut-away side view of the connector ofFIG. 11, aligned for interconnection.

FIG. 13 is a schematic partial cut-away side view of the connector ofFIG. 11, in the interlocked position.

FIG. 14 is a close-up view of area A of FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a schematic exploded isometric view of an exemplary fourconnector embodiment, with an S-bend for RF isolation.

FIG. 16 is a schematic partial cut-away view of the four connectorembodiment of FIG. 15, in the interlocked position.

FIG. 17 is a schematic close-up view of a portion of FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 a is a schematic isometric quarter-section view of the male andfemale connector body portions of the four connector embodiment of FIG.15, positioned for interconnection.

FIG. 18 b is a schematic isometric quarter-section view of the male andfemale connector body portions of an alternative male and femaleconnector body portion pair, positioned for interconnection.

FIG. 19 a is a schematic isometric quarter-section view of the male andfemale connector body portions of the four connector embodiment of FIG.15, interconnected.

FIG. 19 b is a schematic isometric quarter-section view of the male andfemale connector body portions of FIG. 18 a, interconnected.

FIG. 20 is a schematic isometric cut-away side view of a staticinterconnection retention alternative embodiment with an S-bend for RFisolation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The inventors have recognized that PIM may be generated at, in additionto the interconnections between the inner and outer conductors of acoaxial cable and each coaxial connector, the electricalinterconnections between the connector interfaces of mating coaxialconnectors.

Further, threaded interconnection interfaces may be difficult to connectin high density/close proximity connector situations where access to theindividual connector bodies is limited. Even where smaller diametercables are utilized, standard quick connection interfaces such asBNC-type interconnections may provide unsatisfactory electricalperformance with respect to PIM, as the connector body may pivotlaterally along the opposed dual retaining pins and internal springelement, due to the spring contact applied between the male and femaleportions, according to the BNC interface specification. Further,although BNC-type interconnections may be quick connecting, therequirement of twist-engaging the locking collar prevents use of thisconnection interface where a blind mate is desired.

An exemplary embodiment of a blind mate connector interface, as shown inFIGS. 1-2, demonstrates a rigid connector interface where the male andfemale portions 8, 16 seat together along self-aligning generallyconical mating surfaces at the interface end 14 of each.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that interface end 14 and cableend 15 are applied herein as identifiers for respective ends of both theconnector and also of discrete elements of the connector assemblydescribed herein, to identify same and their respective interconnectingsurfaces according to their alignment along a longitudinal axis of theconnector between an interface end 14 and a cable end 15 of each of themale and female portions 8, 16. When interconnected by the connectorinterface, the interface end 14 of the male portion 8 is coupled to theinterface end 14 of the female portion 16.

The male portion 8 has a male outer conductor coupling surface 9, heredemonstrated as a conical outer diameter seat surface 12 at theinterface end 14 of the male portion 8. The male portion 8 isdemonstrated coupled to a cable 6, an outer conductor 44 of the cable 6inserted through a bore 48 of the male portion at the cable end 15 andcoupled to a flare surface 50 at the interface end of the bore 48.

The female portion 16 is provided with an annular groove 28 open to theinterface end 14. An outer sidewall 30 of the annular groove 28 isdimensioned to mate with the conical outer diameter seat surface 12enabling self-aligning conical surface to conical surface mutual seatingbetween the male and female portions 8, 16.

The male portion may further include a peripheral groove 10, open to theinterface end 14, the peripheral groove 10 dimensioned to receive anouter diameter of the interface end 14 of the female portion 16.Thereby, the male outer conductor coupling surface 9 may extend from theperipheral groove 10 to portions of the male portion 8 contacting aninner sidewall 46 of the female portion 16, significantly increasing thesurface area available for the male outer conductor coupling surface 9.

A polymeric support 55 may be sealed against a jacket of the cable 6 toprovide both an environmental seal for the cable end 15 of theinterconnection and a structural reinforcement of the cable 6 to maleportion 8 interconnection.

An environmental seal may be applied by providing an annular seal groove60 in the outer diameter seat surface 12, in which a seal 62 such as anelastometric o-ring or the like may be seated. Because of the conicalmating between the outer diameter seat surface 12 and the outer sidewall 30, the seal 62 may experience reduced insertion friction comparedto that encountered when seals are applied between telescopingcylindrical surfaces, enabling the seal 62 to be slightly over-sized,which may result in an improved environmental seal between the outerdiameter seat surface 12 and the outer side wall 30. A further seal 62may be applied to an outer diameter of the female portion 16, forsealing against the outer sidewall of the peripheral groove 10, ifpresent.

Where the connection interface selected requires an inner conductorprofile that is not compatible with the inner conductor 63 of theselected cable 6 and/or the material of the inner conductor 63 is anundesired inner conductor connector interface material, such asaluminum, the inner conductor 63 may be provided with a desired maleinner conductor surface 65 at the interface end of the male portion 8 byapplying an inner conductor cap 64.

The connection interface may be applied with conventional “physicalcontact” galvanic electro-mechanical coupling. To further eliminate PIMgeneration also with respect to the connection interface between thecoaxial connectors, the connection interface may be enhanced to utilizecapacitive coupling.

Capacitive coupling may be obtained by applying a dielectric spacerbetween the inner and/or outer conductor contacting surfaces of theconnector interface. Capacitive coupling between spaced apart conductorsurfaces eliminates the direct electrical current interconnectionbetween these surfaces that is otherwise subject to PIMgeneration/degradation as described hereinabove with respect to cableconductor to connector interconnections.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that a capacitive couplinginterconnection may be optimized for a specific operating frequencyband. For example, the level of capacitive coupling between separatedconductor surfaces is a function of the desired frequency band(s) of theelectrical signal(s), the surface area of the separated conductorsurfaces, the dielectric constant of a dielectric spacer and thethickness of the dielectric spacer (distance between the separatedconductor surfaces).

The dielectric spacer may be applied, for example as shown in FIGS. 1and 2, with respect to the outer conductor 44 as an outer conductordielectric spacer 66 by covering at least the interface end 14 of themale outer conductor coupling surface 9 of the male portion 18 (theseating surface 12) with a dielectric coating. Similarly, the male innerconductor coupling surface 65, here the outer diameter of the innerconductor cap 64, may be covered with a dielectric coating to form aninner conductor dielectric spacer 68.

Alternatively and/or additionally, as known equivalents, the outer andinner conductor dielectric spacers 66, 68 may be applied to theapplicable areas of the annular groove 28 and/or the inner conductorcontact 71. Thereby, when the male portion 8 is secured within acorresponding female portion 16, an entirely capacitively coupledinterconnection interface is formed. That is, there is no directgalvanic interconnection between the inner conductor or outer conductorelectrical pathways across the connection interface.

The dielectric coatings of the outer and inner conductor dielectricspacers 66, 68 may be provided, for example, as a ceramic or polymerdielectric material. One example of a dielectric coating with suitablecompression and thermal resistance characteristics that may be appliedwith high precision at very thin thicknesses is ceramic coatings.Ceramic coatings may be applied directly to the desired surfaces via arange of deposition processes, such as Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD)or the like. Ceramic coatings have a further benefit of a high hardnesscharacteristic, thereby protecting the coated surfaces from damage priorto interconnection and/or resisting thickness variation due tocompressive forces present upon interconnection. The ability to applyextremely thin dielectric coatings, for example as thin as 0.5 microns,may reduce the surface area requirement of the separated conductorsurfaces, enabling the overall dimensions of the connection interface tobe reduced.

The inner conductor dielectric spacer 68 covering the male innerconductor surface here provided as the inner conductor cap 64 isdemonstrated as a conical surface in FIGS. 1 and 2. The conical surface,for example applied at a cone angle corresponding to the cone angle ofthe male outer conductor coupling surface (conical seat surface 12), mayprovide an increased interconnection surface area and/or range ofinitial insertion angles for ease of initiating the interconnectionand/or protection of the inner and outer conductor dielectric spacers68,66 during initial mating for interconnection.

The exemplary embodiments are demonstrated with respect to a cable 6that is an RF-type coaxial cable. One skilled in the art will appreciatethat the connection interface may be similarly applied to any desiredcable 6, for example multiple conductor cables, power cables and/oroptical cables, by applying suitable conductor matingsurfaces/individual conductor interconnections aligned within the bore48 of the male and female portions 8, 16.

One skilled in the art will further appreciate that the connectorinterface provides a quick-connect rigid interconnection with a reducednumber of discrete elements, which may simplify manufacturing and/orassembly requirements. Contrary to conventional connection interfacesfeaturing threads, the conical aspect of the seat surface 12 isgenerally self-aligning, allowing interconnection to be initiatedwithout precise initial male to female portion 8, 16 alignment along thelongitudinal axis.

Further blind mating functionality may be applied by providing the maleportion 8 with a range of radial movement with respect to a longitudinalaxis of the male portion 8. Thereby, slight misalignment between themale and female portions 8, 16 may be absorbed without binding themating and/or damaging the male inner and outer conductor matingsurfaces 65, 9 during interconnection.

As shown for example in FIGS. 3 and 5, male portion radial movement withrespect to the female portion 16 may be enabled by providing the maleportion 8 supported radially movable upon a bias web 32 of a float plate34, with respect to retaining structure that holds the male portion 8and the female portion 16 in the mated/interlocked position.

As best shown in FIG. 6, the float plate 34 may be provided as a planarelement with the bias web 32 formed therein by a plurality of circuitoussupport arms 36. The support arms 36, here demonstrated as three supportarms 36, may be provided generally equidistant from one another, herefor example separated from one another by one hundred and twentydegrees. A bias web slot 38 may be provided between two of the supportarms 36 for inserting the male portion 8 into the bias web 32. The biasweb slot 38 mates with a retention groove 42 formed in the outerdiameter of the male portion 8 (see FIG. 2).

One skilled in the art will appreciate that the circuitous support arms36 together form a spring biased to retain a male portion 8 seated inthe bias web slot 38 central within the bias web 32 but with a range ofradial movement. The level of spring bias applied is a function of thesupport arm cross-section and characteristics of the selected floatplate material, for example stainless steel. The planar characteristicof the float plate 34 enables cost efficient precision manufacture bystamping, laser cutting or the like.

As best shown in FIG. 3, a shoulder plate 40 is provided seated againsta cable end 15 of the float plate 34. The shoulder plate 40 is providedwith a shoulder slot 41 dimensioned to receive a cable 6 coupled to themale portion 8. A proximal end of the shoulder slot 41 is provided witha connector aperture 43 dimensioned to receive a cable end 15 of themale portion 8 and allow the range or radial movement therein. As bestshown in FIG. 2, the male portion 8 has a stop shoulder 11 with an outerdiameter greater than the connector aperture 43, inhibiting passage ofthe stop shoulder 11 therethrough. Thereby, the float plate 34 issandwiched between the stop shoulder 11 and the shoulder plate 40,inhibiting movement of the male portion 8 toward the cable end 15 of theshoulder plate 40, away from interconnection with the female portion 16,but enabling the range of radial movement.

The float plate 34 and shoulder plate 40 are retained against oneanother by an overbody 58. The overbody 58 (formed as a unitary elementor alternatively as an assembly comprising a frame, retaining plate andsealing portion), may be dimensioned to seat against a base 69 coupledto the female portion 16, coupling the float plate 34 to the femaleportion 16 to retain the male portion 8 and the female portion 16 in theinterlocked position via at least one retainer 70, such as at least oneclip coupled to the overbody that releasably engages the base 69. Thebase 69 may be formed integrally with the female portion 16 or as anadditional element, for example sandwiched between a mounting flange 53of the female portion 16 and a bulkhead surface the female portion 16may be mounted upon. The overbody and/or base may be cost efficientlyformed with high precision of polymeric material with a dielectriccharacteristic, maintaining a galvanic break between the male portion 8and the female portion 16. The seating of the overbody 58 against thebase 69 may be environmentally sealed by applying one or more seals 62between mating surfaces. A further seal member (not shown) may beapplied to improve an environmental seal along a path past the shoulderand float plates 40, 34 associated with each male portion 8 and cable 6extending therethrough.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that a combined assembly may beprovided with multiple male portions 8 and a corresponding number offemale portions 16, the male portions 8 seated within a multiple biasweb float plate 34 and multiple connector aperture shoulder plate 40.For example as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the male portions may be arrangedin a single row. Alternatively, the male portions may be arranged in aplurality of rows, in either columns (FIG. 8) or a staggeredconfiguration (FIG. 9). The corresponding female portions may beprovided as individual female portions each seated within the base(FIGS. 6 and 7) or formed with an integral mounting flange 53 (FIGS.10-13) and/or base.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that the outer conductordielectric spacer 66 creates a separation between the male and femaleportions 8, 16 which may form a waveguide path for RF signal leakagefrom the signal space along and/or between the inner and outerconductors 63, 44 to the exterior of the interconnection. Thereby, RFinterference may occur, either into or out of the interconnection, forexample where multiple interconnections are applied in close quartersand/or where microwave frequencies are in use.

The inventors have recognized that waveguide path RF propagation may befrustrated by introducing significant direction changes along thewaveguide path.

An exemplary close-quarters four connector embodiment with additional RFisolation features is demonstrated in FIGS. 15-19. An S-bend 79, in aradial direction between peripheral surfaces of the interconnection,introduces at least three 90 degree or less bends into the waveguidepath as demonstrated in FIGS. 18 a and 19 a and at least four 90 degreeor less bends as demonstrated in FIGS. 18 b and 19 b. An S-bend 79 maybe formed, for example as best shown in FIGS. 17-19, by the peripheralgroove 10, in cooperation with a peripheral flange 75 of the femaleportion 16 which forms an s-bend groove 77 open to the interface end 14of the female portion 16. With an outer diameter sidewall of theperipheral groove 10 adjacent an inner diameter sidewall of the s-bendgroove 77, the waveguide path 73 therebetween becomes an S-bend 79.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that some of the bends comprisingthe S-bend 79 may be provided as less than 90 degrees to enable a taperin the corners of the peripheral groove and/or s-bend grooves, for easeof meshing these surfaces into the final spaced apart orientation in theinterconnected position.

Use of front and back stop plates 40 in a sandwich configuration aroundthe float plate 34 is also demonstrated by FIGS. 15-17. Addition of afront stop plate 40 reinforces the float plate 34, for example, duringdisconnect movement, wherein environmental gaskets may grip the severalmale portions 8 with significant force that may otherwise deform a floatplate 34 that is unsupported in the forward direction.

The front and back stop plates 40 may be oriented with their shoulderslots 41 oriented ninety degrees from one another for increasedstrength. Each of the stop plates 40 may be rotated slightly in reversedirections to temporarily align each for insertion of the male portionretention groove 42 along the several slots simultaneously, beforereturning each to its steady state orientation, locking the male portion8 with respect to the stop plates 40.

The S-bend 79 may be similarly applied to capacitive coupling coaxialconnectors with conventional static interconnection retentions, forexample as shown in FIG. 20, where a polymer coupling nut 81 secures theinterconnection, to obtain the benefit of improved RF isolation.

In the blind mate configurations, the range of radial movement enablesthe male portion(s) 8 to adapt to accumulated dimensional variancesbetween linkages, mountings and/or associated interconnections such asadditional ganged connectors, enabling, for example, swing arm blindmating between one or more male portions 8 and a corresponding number offemale portions 16. Further, the generally conical mating surfacesprovide an additional self-aligning seating characteristic thatincreases a minimum sweep angle before interference occurs, for examplewhere initial insertion during mating is angled with respect to alongitudinal axis of the final interconnection, due to swing arm basedarc engagement paths.

The application of capacitive coupling to male and female portions 8, 16which may themselves be provided with molecular bond interconnectionswith continuing conductors, can enable a blind mateable quickconnect/disconnect RF circuit that may be entirely without PIM.

Table of Parts 8 male portion 9 male outer conductor coupling surface 10peripheral groove 11 stop shoulder 12 seat surface 14 interface end 15cable end 16 female portion 28 annular groove 30 outer sidewall 32 biasweb 34 float plate 36 support arm 38 bias web slot 40 shoulder plate 41shoulder slot 42 retention groove 43 connector aperture 44 outerconductor 46 inner sidewall 48 bore 50 flare surface 53 mounting flange55 support 58 overbody 60 seal groove 62 seal 63 inner conductor 64inner conductor cap 65 male inner conductor coupling surface 66 outerconductor dielectric spacer 68 inner conductor dielectric spacer 69 base70 retainer 71 inner conductor contact 73 waveguide path 75 peripheralflange 77 S-bend groove 79 S-bend 81 coupling nut

Where in the foregoing description reference has been made to materials,ratios, integers or components having known equivalents then suchequivalents are herein incorporated as if individually set forth.

While the present invention has been illustrated by the description ofthe embodiments thereof, and while the embodiments have been describedin considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicant torestrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to suchdetail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broaderaspects is not limited to the specific details, representativeapparatus, methods, and illustrative examples shown and described.Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departurefrom the spirit or scope of applicant's general inventive concept.Further, it is to be appreciated that improvements and/or modificationsmay be made thereto without departing from the scope or spirit of thepresent invention as defined by the following claims.

We claim:
 1. A connector with a capacitively coupled connector interfacefor interconnection with a female portion provided with an annulargroove, with a sidewall, open to an interface end of the female portion,comprising: a male portion provided with a male outer conductor couplingsurface at an interface end; the male outer conductor coupling surfacecovered by an outer conductor dielectric spacer; the male outerconductor coupling surface dimensioned to seat, spaced apart from thesidewall by the outer conductor dielectric spacer, within the annulargroove, when the male portion and the female portion are in aninterlocked position; and a waveguide path between the male outerconductor coupling surface and the female portion, while in theinterlocked position, extends from the outer conductor dielectric spacerto an exterior of the interconnection through an S-bend in a radialdirection.
 2. The connector of claim 1, wherein the S-bend has at leastthree generally ninety degree or less bends.
 3. The connector of claim1, wherein the s-bend passes between an S-bend groove of the femaleportion and a peripheral groove of the male portion; an outer diametersidewall of the peripheral groove adjacent an inner diameter sidewall ofthe S-bend groove.
 4. The connector of claim 1, wherein the male portionis retained with a range of radial movement, with respect to alongitudinal axis of the male portion, by a bias web of a float plate;and a coupling between the float plate and the female portion retainsthe male portion and the female portion in the interlocked position. 5.The connector of claim 4, further including a back shoulder plateprovided on a cable end side of the float plate, the back shoulder platedimensioned to inhibit movement of the male portion toward a cable endof the back shoulder plate and enabling the range of radial movement. 6.The connector of claim 5, further including a front shoulder plateprovided on an interface side of the float plate, the front shoulderplate dimensioned to inhibit movement of the male portion toward aninterface end of the front shoulder plate and enabling the range ofradial movement.
 7. The connector of claim 6, wherein the front shoulderplate has a shoulder slot dimensioned to receive a cable coupled to themale portion and a proximal end of the shoulder slot has a connectorseat dimensioned to receive a cable end of the male portion.
 8. Theconnector of claim 6, wherein a shoulder slot of the front shoulderplate and a shoulder slot of the back shoulder plate are oriented normalto one another.
 9. The connector of claim 4, wherein the couplingbetween the float plate and the female portion is at least one clipcoupled to the overbody that releasably engages the base.
 10. Theconnector of claim 4, wherein the male portion is provided with an outerdiameter retention groove and the float plate is provided with a biasweb slot; the retention groove dimensioned to receive the float platealong the bias web slot, seating the male portion within the bias web.11. The connector of claim 10, wherein the bias web is three supportarms positioned generally equidistant from one another, the bias webslot provided between two of the support arms.
 12. The connector ofclaim 4, wherein the at least one male portion is four male portions,the bias web provided as four portions of the float plate, each portioncorresponding to one of the male portions; and; the at least one femaleportion provided as four female portions with a monolithic base flange.13. The connector of claim 12, wherein the male portions are arranged ina single row.
 14. The connector of claim 12, wherein the male portionsare arranged in a plurality of rows.
 15. The connector of claim 4,wherein the bias web is three circuitous support arms positionedgenerally equidistant from one another.
 16. The connector of claim 1,further including an annular groove provided in the male outer conductorcoupling surface, in which a seal is seated.
 17. The connector of claim1, further including a male inner conductor surface at the interface endof the male portion; an inner conductor dielectric spacer covering themale inner conductor surface; the male inner conductor surface spacedapart from a female inner conductor surface at the interface end of thefemale portion, coaxial with the annular groove, by the inner conductordielectric spacer, when the male portion and the female portion are inthe interlocked position.
 18. The connector of claim 17, wherein themale inner conductor surface is conical.
 19. The connector of claim 1,wherein the male portion is provided with a peripheral groove, open tothe interface end; the peripheral groove dimensioned to receive an outerdiameter of the female portion.
 20. A method for manufacturing aconnector according to claim 1, comprising the steps of: forming theouter conductor dielectric spacer as a layer of ceramic material uponthe outer conductor coupling surface.